Spirit Wolf by Kathryn Lasky Page A

wolves any longer. There is no Ring. There is no ember to be guarded.”
    â€œHas she mended?” Edme ask. There was a slight tremor in her voice that no one detected except Faolan. He leaned in closer to her.
    â€œYes,” Gwynneth sighed. “She has a second eye. She didn’t even realize it until I pointed it out to her.”
    â€œBut the pup is fine?” Edme asked.
    â€œYes. It’s female. Banja named her Maud. She’s perfect.”
    â€œThat’s really good. I’m happy for her. I really am.” Tears glistened in Edme’s eye.
    Faolan cocked his head and looked at his dear friend. In truth, she was so much more than a friend. Thosefeelings, those undeniable emotions that had racked him as hard as the turbulent waters of the bight, roiled within him again. He had been absolutely desperate when he had thought she might be hurt, or that he might never see her again. He had been prepared to throw himself into that raging sea and drown right then.
    â€œI promised that I would go back for Banja,” Gwynneth continued. “Help her. And now that we know that we are going west …”
    â€œYou can’t leave her alone!” Edme interrupted. “You can’t! To think that there is new life after all … all this.” She swung her head about to take in the devastated landscape that had once been the Beyond.
    â€œGo back, get her,” Faolan said. “We’ll meet you at the Blood Watch.”
    â€œBut is there still a Blood Watch?” Gwynneth asked. “The cairns on those mountains … what could be left of them?”
    Faolan swallowed. “We’ll meet you at the Cave Before Time.”
    â€œThe Cave Before Time?” Edme asked. She and Faolan’s two sisters seemed startled. They had all sought refuge in the Cave during a blizzard, and none had forgotten its strange paintings.
    â€œIs that what you call it, Faolan?” Mhairie said.
    â€œThat’s its true name, I believe,” Edme replied, turning to Faolan. The green light of that single eye was so intense it pierced his bones to the marrow.
    â€œYes,” Faolan replied softly. “We might find the Whistler there.”
    There is so much more than paintings in that cave , Edme thought. So much more! Edme sensed that at the Cave their journey west would truly begin. That was where the frost wolf she had glimpsed those long moons ago would meet the wolf she knew as Faolan.
    She felt a twinge deep in her marrow, but there was another pain even deeper — one in her hind leg, somewhere between her hip and knee. Her femur? But her legs had always been fine, ready to spring forward in a kill rush, or leap from the top of a cairn at the Ring. She took soaring leaps, especially when she was on guard for Stormfast. There was something about that cairn — the keybone on it gave her purchase like no bone in the other four Watch cairns. Her leaps on Stormfast had given her a reputation for strong hind legs. The last thing she needed now was bone freeze. There were liniments that could ease the pain, but once bone freeze set in, there would be no jumping as before. Of course there was no Ring asbefore either, so perhaps it did not matter. But she had to stay strong. She had to carry on west, Beyond the Beyond, on to … where? She was not sure, but she trusted Faolan. Hadn’t she always?
    The thought caught her up short. Haven’t I always trusted Faolan? It was as if Edme’s mind reeled back in time. If there is a Beyond the Beyond, there must be a Before the Before. That’s where we are going — somewhere before time. Suddenly, she was frightened.

    Faolan explained to Gwynneth precisely how she could find the Cave Before Time, even if the entire landscape had been disheveled. “The stars don’t change, Gwynneth. You fly two points off between the port hind paw of the Little Raccoon and the first claw of the Golden Talons.”